I’m undergoing diagnostic tests at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Spinal Center and will miss this month’s meeting.

DAV members should be aware of the military installations that are listed by EPA as among the most toxic environmental sites in the US.

There are 130 military installations in EPA’s Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS) (see attached file) that EPA identifies as the most ACTIVE toxic and hazardous sites in the country. This information is available to Veterans and others via the internet at Search Superfund Site Information at https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/Cursites/srchsites.cfm.

EPA defines “COCs [as] the chemical substances found at the site determined [to] pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment.”

With the exception of Camp Lejeune, no veteran has been informed by the government of the contaminants they may have been exposed to and their health effects. The VA and the VSOs have not published this information on their websites. I believe that this is a major disservice to those who served their country honorably, were exposed to toxic chemicals and have no clue that their medical conditions are linked to military service.

I can understand the government’s reluctance to advertise this information to Veterans but there is no excuse for the VSOs not to publish it.

DAV members need to know that even if they served at one of these military installations (the exception is Camp Lejeune) and have medical conditions linked by EPA to toxic exposures, the VA will deny a disability compensation claim without a medical nexus opinion that states their medical condition is “at least as likely as not” due to military service.

For information of the health effects of toxins and toxic exposures, see Health Hazards of Chemicals on Military Bases at: http://www.sciencecorps.org/Veteranshealth/.

Best ,

Bob O’Dowd
609-774-7551

Robert O’Dowd, Environmental and Military Reporter

Bob O’Dowd is a former U.S. Marine with thirty years of experience on the east coast as an auditor, accountant, and financial manager with the Federal government, half of that time with the Defense Logistics Agency in Philadelphia. Originally from Pennsylvania, he enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 19, served in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Marine Aircraft Wings in 52 months of active duty in the 1960s. He went on to graduate from Temple University. Robert O’Dowd and Tim King co-authored BETRAYAL: Toxic Exposure of U.S. Marines, Murder and Government Cover-Up. This book stands with the best works of New Journalism. It tells the story of the thousands of Veterans and their families, once stationed at these hazardous military installations, who have continued to be ignored by the U.S. government by denial of the effects of exposure to environmental hazards, including the highest incidence of occurrence of male breast cancer in any other demographic in the U.S. Legislation to provide health care and compensation for Camp Lejeune Veterans and their dependents was introduced during the 111th Congress.